The Visionary State: A Journey Through California's Spiritual Landscape

...an extraordinary book, beautifully laid out and interesting histories on spectacular architectural sanctuaries gracing California's landscape, well researched and vividly presented. A true find and a great gift for anyone interested in California history, architecture, travel, art, spirituality ...an incredible journey!

The promise held out by the gorgeous dust jacket of The Visionary State is more than fulfilled inside, where the immediate appeal comes from Michael Rauner's magnificent photographs of places throughout California. These glowing pictures illustrate the diverse streams of religion, spirituality, and other forms of visionary thinking that give the book its title and California its unique character as a "state of mind." The photos find a perfect counterpoint in Erik Davis's magnificent prose. Gathering together a wealth of information, the author weaves it into a lively, irresistible narrative of the state's spiritual, social, and architectural history, beginning with prehistoric petroglyphs and taking us all the way to today's neopagan revival. In between unfolds a procession of people and movements that have made California unlike any other state: Spanish friars, Mormon trekkers, Hindu swamis, Buddhist monks, utopian reformers, self-styled mystics, genuine mystics, charlatans and saints and scientists delving into the mysteries of the cosmos and the human psyche. Embracing religion, spirituality, social history, and architecture, The Visionary State should engage and delight a wide spectrum of readers. --Devadatta Kali, author of In Praise of the Goddess and The Veiling Brilliance.

From the perfectly shot pictures, to the heavy spine and luxurious feel, to the extraordinarily engaging text, this is an ideal reference book, gift book, and tour de focce of the California psycho-spiritual landscape. Pairing textual descriptions with breakthaking images, the history of California's many spiritual and religoius movements comes vibrantly to life on every page. I was especially thrilled by the *feel* of this book. As soon as I held it, I knew I loved it. Big kudos to Erik Davis and his photographer for putting out such a fine volume.

Davis traverses the unexplored, germane topic of California's unique spiritual and architectural evolution with an original and erudite voice. Michael Rauner's photos are intense, playful and a great fit with the text. I appreciate this book immensely and highly recommend it, a must read!

Visionary State shows a California that few of us who even live here know or understand. Not only is this book a beautiful showcase of photographs highlighting the wide diversity of both natural beauty and man-made visionary sites in California, but the well written text about each set of photos also provides remarkable insight into these places within California that many of we natives didn't even know existed. A gorgeous, high quality book. Great gift for any Californian and anyone that admires the unique history and beauty of our fair state.